Called territory managers or manufacturers reps, the men and women who call on retailers with products from flooring suppliers are an essential link in the chain that connects consumers with carpet, rugs, hardwood, vinyl, laminate and ceramic tile products.

Retailers have strong and mixed feelings about the reps that call on them. “I have about 25 reps who are supposed to call on me,” said Barry White, owner, Carpeteria, Lancaster, Calif“. Of all of them, five do their job really well, about 10 do a minimum job and 10 don’t come at all. ey say that we’re too far out to Value of a good rep — priceless call on. One who doesn’t come, said, ‘I was going to wait to get some business (from you) before I came.’ ”

That rep will probably wait a long time. White explained that because it’s human nature for retail sales associates (RSA) to reach for a product that is represented by someone who they have a relationship with, the products from the rep who doesn’t visit are seldom sold.

“A good rep is like family to me,” stressed White. “They come to our Christmas party.”

For White, the best reps are from Kardean, Shaw and Tuftex. “I work directly with Kardean and they always call me back. The Shaw and Tuftex teams are amazing,” he stressed.

A good manufacturers’ rep can make a huge difference to a dealer’s business, according to Joan Cocuzzo, owner and manager of two Flooring America Design Center locations in the Boston area. “We have had reps who have revolutionized our business,” Cocuzzo said. “About 15 years ago, a rep helped us get into hardwood and it helped us grow our business. That same rep is now helping us get into stone.”

The differences between reps can be striking. “We’ve recently gotten a new rep for an area rug supplier,” Cocuzzo noted. “We hadn’t gotten an updated price list in three years. the new rep is helping and we’re already starting to sell the rugs.” Cocuzzo’s greatest complaint is unanswered phone calls. “When I call a rep, it’s because I need something right then. If the rep doesn’t answer and doesn’t call me back until hours or days later, the customer is gone and it’s usually too late,” she explained. “the rep who answers the phone can help us make a sale. We rely on them to explain the product and keep us up to date. Hardwood prices change constantly, so you have to be in touch with your rep. We don’t sell the bad rep’s goods because we don’t know enough about the product.”

Manufacturers work to field effective repsShaw tries to train its reps to be “good ones,” according to Chris Clement, director of sales training and development for Shaw. “It’s not just about product. It’s about learning to listen,” Clement stressed. Called “Surround the Account,” Shaw’s strategy aims to really understand the customers’ needs. Clement added, “We want to understand their business and help them become profitable.”

Shaw’s training program varies according to what kind of experience a new rep brings to the job. For someone straight out of college, it’s a 14-week process that includes time in Dalton as well as field trips to call on retailers to understand retail dynamics. Territories vary by market and population density.

After a rep is assigned a territory, training continues. “they are constantly reinforced with additional information, Clement explained. “they will have a different set of questions once they’ve been in the market for six months and again at 12 months.”

Each rep runs his or her territory as a local business. “Our job is to serve the retailer. We need to be in the stores. There is always something going on,” Clement reported. “Our accounts have commercial and residential projects we can help with. the dealer will go with the people they trust. Product is animportant component but it is not the only factor. the tiebreakers are support issues like returning calls and being on time. there are plenty of vendors, but dealers want someone to be a trusted advisor.”

Shaw currently has about 800 reps on the residential side and 300 on the commercial side. They are likely to be specialized with some handling carpet and others covering all hard surface products.

Mohawk’s Sales Academy focuses on retail training of reps that are called territory managers (TMs) for the residential market and account executives for the commercial side of the business, according to Mike Zoellner, vice president of marketing services.

Mohawk gathers a group that could be as small as one or two and brings them to Dalton for the training. Totally new to the industry TMs go through an “on-boarding process” that includes human resources materials, all product knowledge and information on their customers. Zoellner said, “Training goes on for about a month but Mohawk puts people in the field as soon as possible.”

Pre-recession, classes of 25 to 30 TMs were run quarterly, but because there was contraction of about 40 percent during the recession, there are now fewer accounts and so, fewer TMs, according to Zoellner. Mohawk TMs handle carpet and cushion or all types of hard flooring. “the number of dealers a TM calls on is determined by markets and miles, because there are areas where there are more Mohawk aligned dealers compared to others where there are fewer,” Zoellner noted.

Reps Gary Pickney, Alan Bergstrom, Jay Polack, Jack Finkel and Mike Wanta are a pleasure to work with, according to Michael Peters of CarpetsPlus in Wisconsin.